Systems and methods for providing location signals/indicators when 911 dialed

ABSTRACT

Emergency communication applications and methods interact with different communications devices, different users, and/or different communications networks to generate, enable, and/or transmit an Emergency Locator Signal to a communications address of the local communications network. According to exemplary embodiments, the transmitted Emergency Locator Signal communicates with the local communications network to identify a location of the calling party&#39;s communications device (or alternate selected communications device) at a geographic location of an Emergency Communications Address. Thereafter, the location of the calling party&#39;s communications device is communicated to emergency response personnel to better locate a victim in proximity to the calling party&#39;s communications device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of commonly assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/447,635 entitled “Systems & Methods forProviding Location Signals/Indicators When 911 Dialed,” filed on Jun. 6,2006, and of which is incorporated herein by this reference.

This application is also related to commonly assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/768,801 entitled “Automated Third Party CallActivated When 911 Dialed” ) filed on Jan. 30, 2004, and of which isincorporated herein by this reference.

This application is also related to commonly assigned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/513,796 entitled “Automated Third Party CallActivated When 911 Dialed” filed on Aug. 31, 2006, and of which isincorporated herein by this reference.

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document and its figurescontain material subject to copyright protection. The copyright ownerhas no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patentdocument or the patent disclosure, but otherwise reserves all copyrightswhatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The exemplary embodiments generally relate to the field ofcommunications, and more specifically, to systems and methods for acommunications network to locate a communications device when anemergency communication originates from the communications device.

In emergency situations, timely assistance provided by emergency servicepersonnel is often critical to minimize injuries, save lives, and/orminimize property damage. Often times, a mere delay of a few minutes, oreven a matter of seconds, may have severe consequences in saving thelife of an individual, such as an individual having a heart attack or anindividual suffering from severe blood loss. Likewise, delays inreaching the scene of a fire or other catastrophic event may havecatastrophic consequences to property damage. Thus, the time it takesfor emergency personnel, such as, police, fire, and medical personnel,to reach the location to respond to the emergency makes a difference.

In an effort to increase the response speed of emergency responsepersonnel, centralized emergency response telephone services, such as,for example, 911 and enhanced 911, have been implemented so thatdispatch personnel at the answer center are provided with detailedinformation (e.g., an address of a home, business, or other locationassociated with the calling phone number, special needs of individualsat the calling phone number, a database of other 911 calls from thatphone number and how they were responded to in the past, and so on) andprovided with access to a wide variety of emergency response personnelto implement appropriate assistance necessary to respond to theemergency. For example, if a 911 caller reported a fire in a home fromthe calling phone number, then the dispatch personnel notify the firedepartment closest to the home to control the fire, and if appropriate,also notify nearby medical personnel to treat any victims of the fireand/or notify nearby law enforcement to control potentially hazardoussituations, such as hysteria of the residents and/or crowds.

Unfortunately, a delay in reaching the location of the emergency mayoccur when the location of the calling phone number is different thanthe location of the emergency. For example, if a user of a cellularphone places the call to 911, then the address of the home with theemergency may not be provided to the dispatch personnel, especially ifthe caller is emotionally or physically distraught and unable tocommunicate the address. Still another example is when a call to thedispatch center is called from a calling phone associated with adifferent street address, such as a call from a neighbor's house toreport a fire. In such a case, the detailed information that accompaniesthe incoming call to the dispatch center does not provide an accuratestreet address; rather the street address of the fire (i.e., the actuallocation of the emergency) must be provided by the calling party and/orapproximated by the dispatch center. Because this address is oftenimprecise, the responding emergency personnel may be delayed trying tolocate an approximated street address of the emergency, such as tryingto look for a signs of an emergency in an area proximate to theapproximated street address, going to the address of the third partycaller to seek assistance in locating the emergency, and trial and errorof knocking on doors until the precise street address and location aredetermined.

Even when a street address of the location of the emergency is known,the emergency personnel may still experience delays in locating theemergency premises. For example, when the responding emergency responsepersonnel near the street address at which the request for emergencyresponse assistance originated (e.g., the home), the personnel is oftenunfamiliar with the exact street address and is forced to proceed at aslower pace in order to precisely locate the street address. Further,the task of locating the exact street address can be more difficult whenvisibility conditions are poor, such as at night, when there isprecipitation, and/or when there are smoke or other environmental and/orwildlife conditions that inhibit visibility. This task may be even moredifficult when the home of the originating call is located in an areawhere the homes are far apart, road signs are difficult to find and/orread, and/or addresses are not easily visible on the exterior of thehome or other outbuilding of the home (e.g., a mailbox).

And, even after the home is located, the emergency response personnelmay experience further delays locating the victim and/or locating theparty that placed the call to the emergency response call center. Forexample, if a calling party uses a wireless handset associated with alandline phone number to place the emergency call, then the emergencyresponse call center may know the residential address associated withthe landline phone number; however, the emergency response call centerwill not know the location of the handset. For example, if there is afire in the home and the calling party placed the call from a homephone, then it would be beneficial if the emergency response personnelknew where the handset was in the home (e.g., the basement, second floorbedroom, and so on) because that might help locate the calling partyand/or other victims.

Accordingly, what is needed are systems, methods, and apparatus thatprovide an emergency locating system to overcome and/or improve theabove and other problems to minimize the amount of time it takes foremergency response personnel to reach the street address, a more preciselocation of an emergency, and/or a location of the calling party and/orvictim. In addition, what are needed are emergency locating systems,methods, and apparatus that are easy to install, manage, and/or use.

SUMMARY

According to exemplary embodiments, the needs described above and otherneeds are met by methods, systems, computer programs, and computerprogram products to locate an associated communications device at anemergency site. Typically, a calling party uses a communications deviceto communicate an emergency message over a communications network to anemergency response call center (e.g., a 911 call for help). Thecommunications network detects, decodes, and connects the communicationssignal to the emergency response center. At the same time, or nearly thesame time, the communications network associates the communicationssignal from the calling party's communications device with an EmergencyLocator Profile that includes a communications address of a localcommunications network (also referred to herein as “local network”) andinformation about the type of emergency locating system. An EmergencyLocator Application uses the profile to generate and to communicate anEmergency Locator Signal over the communications network to thecommunications address of the local communications network. According tosome of the embodiments of this invention, the Emergency Locator Signalmay communicate with the local communications address to identify abuilding location (i.e., the location within the home, business, orbuilding where the communications device is usually located, such as,for example, a room where the communications device connects or isotherwise coupled with a telephone line, a cable line, and/or anelectrical line) of an associated communications device. For example,the associated communications device may be a Plain Old Telephone System(POTS) phone that is connected or otherwise coupled with the telephoneline in a particular room of the house, such as, a “first floor room,”“basement,” “kitchen,” “living room,” “second floor bedroom,” and so on.So if the POTS phone is connected to the telephone line in the basementof the house, then the POTS phone is identified as “basement.” Inalternate embodiments, the Emergency Locator Signal may communicate withthe local communications address to activate position locating means ofthe communications device. For example, the local communications networkmay communicate or broadcast a signal to that is unique to a selectedcommunications device to activate the position locating means. Theposition locating means may include a variety of systems. For example,the position locating means may be a transmission signal to a networkeddevice that associates a room location with the signal and that roomlocation is then communicated to emergency response personnel.Alternatively, the position locating means may be a homing signal, aGlobal Positioning System, and the like that enable emergency responsepersonnel to receive signals directly from the communications device.

According to exemplary embodiments, an emergency communications systemincludes a communications network and an Emergency Locator Application.The communications network detects, decodes, and communicates acommunications signal to an emergency response communications address,such as, for example, a centralized emergency response call center(e.g., 911), a police station, a fire station, a poison control center,an ambulance service, and/or the like. The communications networkincludes an Emergency Locator DataServer that stores an EmergencyLocator Profile. The Emergency Locator Application uses the profile togenerate an Emergency Locator Signal. When the communications signal isdecoded by the communications network, the profile is associated withthe signal and the application uses fields and/or files of the EmergencyLocator Profile to determine a communications address of the localcommunications network and/or information about a location of anassociated communications device at a geographic location of anEmergency Communications Address. According to further embodiments, acommunications link may be established between the communicationsnetwork and the local communications address of the local communicationsnetwork to communicate the Emergency Locator Signal and to furtheridentify the location of the associated communications device at thegeographic location of the Emergency Communications Address. Further,the communications network may include a public switched telephonenetwork, a mobile switching telephone communications network, and asatellite communications network. Still further, the communicationsnetwork may include a world wide electronic data communications networkthat enables a user interface via an internet, an intranet, and/or anextranet.

According to other exemplary embodiments, a communications methodincludes (1) processing an incoming communications signal from a callingparty's communications device to an emergency response communicationsaddress, (2) associating an incoming line identification (ICLID) signaland/or an enhanced emergency response identification signal with theincoming communications signal, (3) associating an Emergency LocatorProfile, and (4) generating an Emergency Locator Signal. Similar toabove, when the Emergency Locator Signal is communicated to acommunications address of the local communications network, theEmergency Locator Signal accesses a local communications network toidentify a location of a communications device at a geographic locationof an emergency communications address. The method may further includeusing an instruction transmitted from the calling party's communicationsdevice and/or an instruction transmitted from the emergency responsecommunications address to generate the Emergency Locator Signal and/orto modify the Emergency Locator Signal. According to furtherembodiments, methods of this invention may include (1) communicating anidentifier of a building location of the communications device to thecommunications network, (2) communicating the identifier of the buildinglocation of the communications device to the emergency responsecommunications address. Still further embodiments may include (1)activating position locating transmission means of the communicationsdevice, (2) associating the transmitted position location transmissionmeans with a particular room location of the communications device, (3)communicating the room location of the communications device to thecommunications network, and (4) communicating the room location of thecommunications device to the emergency response communications address.

According to further exemplary embodiments, another communicationsmethod includes (1) receiving a communications signal from a callingparty's communications device to a communications network and (2) usingthe communication signal to generate an Emergency Locator Signal that iscapable of communicating with a local communications network to identifya location of the calling party's communications device at a geographiclocation of an Emergency Communications Address. The communicationsnetwork may include a public switched telephone network and/or a mobileswitching telephone communications network.

According to still other exemplary embodiments, a computer programproduct includes a computer-readable medium and an Emergency LocatorModule stored on the computer-readable medium. The Emergency LocatorModule is stored in a memory device. Further, the Emergency LocatorModule generates an Emergency Locator Signal and initiates communicationof the Emergency Locator Signal to a communications address of the localcommunications network. The Emergency Locator Signal is capable ofaccessing a local communications network to identify a location of thecalling party's communications device at a geographic location of anEmergency Communications Address and to communicate the location to thecommunications network and/or emergency response personnel (e.g., anemergency response communications address). The communications networkmay include a public switched telephone network and/or a mobileswitching telephone communications network.

Other systems, methods, and/or computer program products according toembodiments will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art uponreview of the following drawings and detailed description. It isintended that all such additional systems, methods, and/or computerprogram products be included within and protected by this descriptionand be within the scope of the present invention. As is appreciated bythose of ordinary skill in the art, this invention has wide utility in anumber of areas as illustrated by the discussion below. Theseembodiments may be accomplished singularly, or in combination, in one ormore of the implementations of the exemplary embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other embodiments, objects, uses, advantages, and novelfeatures of this invention are more clearly understood by reference tothe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingfigures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a communications system illustrating acommunications network connecting a calling party's communicationsdevice interfacing with a local communications gateway and an emergencyresponse call center according to some of the embodiments of thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of another communications system illustrating acommunications network connecting a calling party's communicationsdevice, an emergency response call center, and a local network accordingto some of the embodiments of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an Emergency Locator Module residing in acomputer system according to some of the embodiments of this invention;

FIG. 4 is another schematic of an emergency locator communicationssystem illustrating communication connections of differentcommunications networks, different users, and different communicationsdevices according to some of the embodiments of this invention;

FIG. 5 is yet another schematic of an emergency locator communicationsystem illustrating communication connections of differentcommunications devices and different communications networks accordingto some of the embodiments of this invention; and

FIGS. 6-8 are flowcharts illustrating emergency locator communicationsmethods according to some of the embodiments of this invention.

DESCRIPTION

This invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsare shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many differentforms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments setforth herein. These embodiments are provided so that this disclosurewill be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of theinvention to those of ordinary skill in the art. Moreover, allstatements herein reciting embodiments of the invention, as well asspecific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural andfunctional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that suchequivalents include both currently known equivalents as well asequivalents developed in the future (i.e., any elements developed thatperform the same function, regardless of structure).

Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill inthe art that the diagrams, flowcharts, illustrations, and the likerepresent conceptual views or processes illustrating systems, methodsand computer program products embodying this invention. The functions ofthe various elements shown in the figures may be provided through theuse of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executingassociated software. Similarly, any switches shown in the figures areconceptual only. Their function may be carried out through the operationof program logic, through dedicated logic, through the interaction ofprogram control and dedicated logic, or even manually, the particulartechnique being selectable by the entity implementing this invention.Those of ordinary skill in the art further understand that the exemplaryhardware, software, processes, methods, and/or operating systemsdescribed herein are for illustrative purposes and, thus, are notintended to be limited to any particular named manufacturer.

As used herein, the term “communications device” includes wired andwireless communications devices, such as a POTS phone, a mobile phone, awireless phone, a WAP phone, a satellite phone, a computer, a modem, apager, a digital music device, a digital recording device, a personaldigital assistant, an interactive television, a digital signalprocessor, and a Global Positioning System device. Further, as usedherein, the term “data” includes electronic information, such as, forexample facsimile, electronic mail (e-mail), text, video, audio, and/orvoice in a variety of formats, such as dual tone multi-frequency,digital, analog, and/or others. Additionally, the data may include: (1)executable programs, such as a software application, (2) an address,location, and/or other identifier of the storage location for the data,(3) integrated or otherwise combined files, such as a grouping ofdestination communications addresses associated with a receiving party,and/or (4) one or more Emergency Locator Profiles associated with theEmergency Locator Signal. In various embodiments, the data may be storedby one or more communications network, a peripheral storage deviceconnected to the communications network, other connected networks,and/or one or more communications devices.

Exemplary embodiments of this invention provide systems, methods, andcomputer program products that operate with different communicationsdevices, different users, and different communications networks togenerate, enable, and/or transmit an Emergency Locator Signal via thecommunications network to a communications address of the localcommunications network. Typically, a calling party uses a communicationsdevice to communicate an emergency message over a communications networkto an emergency response call center (e.g., a 911 call for help). Thecommunications network detects, decodes, and connects the communicationssignal to the emergency response center. At the same time, or nearly thesame time, the communications network associates the communicationssignal from the calling party's communications device with an EmergencyLocator Profile that includes a communications address of a localcommunications network and information about the type of emergencylocating system. An Emergency Locator Application uses the profile togenerate and to communicate an Emergency Locator Signal over thecommunications network to the communications address of the localcommunications network. According to some of the embodiments of thisinvention, the Emergency Locator Signal may communicate with the localcommunications address to identify a building location (i.e., thelocation in the building where the communications device is usuallylocated, such as, for example, a room where the communications deviceconnects or is otherwise coupled with a telephone line, a cable line,and/or an electrical line) of an associated communications device. Forexample, the associated communications device may be a Plain OldTelephone System (POTS) phone that is connected or otherwise coupledwith the telephone line in a particular room of the house, such as, a“first floor room,” “basement,” “kitchen,” “living room,” “second floorbedroom,” and so on. So if the POTS phone is connected to the telephoneline in the basement of the house, then the POTS phone is identified as“basement.” In alternate embodiments, the Emergency Locator Signal maycommunicate with the local communications address to activate positionlocating means of the communications device. For example, the localcommunications network may communicate or broadcast a signal to that isunique to a selected communications device to activate the positionlocating means. The position locating means may include a variety ofsystems. For example, the position locating means may be a transmissionsignal to a networked device that associates a room location with thesignal and that room location is then communicated to emergency responsepersonnel. Alternatively, the position locating means may be a homingsignal, a Global Positioning System, and the like that enable emergencyresponse personnel to receive signals directly from the communicationsdevice.

Referring now to the figures, FIG. 1 illustrate a communications system100 including a calling party's communications device 110 having aninterface with a local communications network 180 (e.g., a sharedcommunications address, an established communications link, and so on),at least one communications network 120, and an emergency response callcenter 130. Typically, the calling party (e.g., a customer and/or auser) subscribes to a network-enabled Emergency Locator Service. Whenthe calling party uses his/her communications device 110 to communicatean emergency message (also referred to herein as “an incomingcommunications signal”) over the communications network 120 to theemergency response call center 130 (e.g., a 911 call for help to acentralized emergency response dispatch center), the communicationsnetwork 120 detects, decodes, and connects the incoming communicationssignal to the emergency response call center 130. At the same time, ornearly the same time, the detected communications address (e.g., 911, aphone number and/or an IP address associated with the emergency responsecall center 130, and other communications address of emergency responseproviders) of the emergency response call center 130 triggers thecommunications network 120 to associate the incoming communicationssignal with an Emergency Locator Profile that includes a communicationsaddress of the local communications network 180 and information aboutlocating an associated communications device at an emergencycommunications address (i.e., a communications device at an emergencysite). An Emergency Locator Application uses the Emergency LocatorProfile to generate and/or communicate an Emergency Locator Signal overthe communications network 120 to the communications address of thelocal communications network 180. The Emergency Locator Signal mayaccess an information system of the local communications network 180 todetermine a building location, such as identifying a room with theassociated communications device located in the room. The buildinglocation is then communicated over the communications network 120 to theemergency call center 130, and, ultimately, to the emergency responsepersonnel so they can more quickly locate a potential victim in thebuilding location. Alternatively, the Emergency Locator Signal mayactivate, deactivate, and/or monitor a position locating means of theassociated communications device, such as activating a homing signal orGPS signal of the communications device. When activated, the positiontracking means of the associated communications device enables emergencypersonnel to more quickly locate the associated communications device inproximity to a potential victim. For example, the position locatingmeans may be visual, such as a flashing light or other eye-catchingvisual indicator integrated into the associated communications device toallow emergency response personnel to notice the visual indicator andmore quickly locate a potential nearby victim. Still another example, isan audible alert, such as a ringer that continuously makes a ringingnoise and allows emergency response personnel to hear the ringer andmore quickly locate a potential nearby victim. And, yet another exampleis activation of a transmission signal (e.g., a homing signal, GlobalPositioning System, and the like) for emergency response personnel toreceive signals from and track their approach to the associatedcommunications device in proximity to a potential nearby victim.

According to an exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the callingparty's communications device 110 and the local communications network180 share the same communications address for transceiving (e.g.,transmitting and/or receiving) communications signals with thecommunications network 120. That is, the communications address of thecalling party's communications device 110 (e.g., the phone number of thecalling party's communications device 110) is the same as thecommunications address of the local communications network 180 thatreceives the Emergency Locator Signal from the communications network120. In such a case, the communications network 120 may transmit adataburst (and/or make use of other medium for transmittingcommunications signals over the network) to the residential network 180while the calling party's communications device 110 is in an off-hookstate (e.g., when the calling party's communications device 110 isengaged in a voice connection/communication with the emergency responsecall center 130 and/or alternate third party (not shown)). Thecommunications network 120 may use any means and/or medium fortransmitting the Emergency Locator Signal to the emergency alert 140 andmay transmit the Emergency Locator Signal to a communications address ofthe local communications network 180 having an on-hook state or anoff-hook state.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of another exemplary communications system 200similar to the communications system 100 disclosed in FIG. 1. However,the communications system 200 illustrates the residential network 180having a different communication address than the calling party'scommunications device 110. That is, the communications address of thelocal communications network 180 is different from the communicationsaddress of the calling party's communications device 110. Consequently,the calling party may use his/her communications device 110 anywhere(e.g., at the site of the emergency or at a remote site) to call theemergency response call center 130 and initiate network-based control toaccess a location or to activate location positioning means of thecommunications device communicating with the residential network 180.For example, the calling party's communications device 110 may be acellular phone, and the calling party could use the cellular phone fromanywhere in a connected cellular network to call the emergency responsecall center 130 and to initiate transmission of the Emergency LocatorSignal to the associated communications device at the emergency site.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an Emergency Locator Module 314 thatoperates within a system memory device 312 of a computer 300. The CallTicker Module 314, however, could also reside in flash memory, aperipheral storage device 316, and/or a communications device (such as,for example, the calling party's communications device 110 of FIG. 1).The computer 300 also has one or more central processors 320 executingan operating system. The operating system, as is well known, has a setof instructions that control the internal functions of the computer 300.A system bus 322 communicates signals, such as data signals, controlsignals, and address signals, between the central processor(s) 320 and asystem controller 310. The system controller 310 provides a bridgingfunction between the memory subsystem 312, the one or more centralprocessors 320, a graphics subsystem 330, a keyboard subsystem 332, anaudio subsystem 334, a PCI (Peripheral Controller Interface) bus 324,and a Communications (“Comm”) Device Interface 350. The PCI bus 324 iscontrolled by a Peripheral Bus Controller 340. The Peripheral BusController 340 is an integrated circuit that serves as an input/outputhub for various peripheral ports and/or transceivers. These peripheralports allow the computer 300 to communicate with a variety ofcommunications devices through networking ports (such as SCSI orEthernet) that include Wireless Communications (“Comm”) DeviceTransceiver 342 (such as Wireless 802.11 and Infrared) and WiredCommunications (“Comm”) Device Port/Connection 344 (such as modem V90+and compact flash slots). These peripheral ports could also includeother networking ports, such as, a serial port (not shown) and/or aparallel port (not shown). The Comm Device Interface 350 allows thecomputer 300 to monitor, detect, receive, and decode incomingcommunications signals to the communications device(s) connected to theWireless Comm Device Transceiver 342 and/or the Wired Comm DevicePort/Connection 344. Further, the Comm Device Interface 350 maycommunicate the Emergency Locator Signal to the Wireless Comm DeviceTransceiver 342 and/or the Wired Comm Device Port/Connection 344 whichmay thereafter communicate the Emergency Locator Signal via thecommunications network 120 to the residential network 180. According toalternate embodiments, the Wireless Comm Device Transceiver 342 and/orthe Wired Comm Device Port/Connection 344 may communicate the EmergencyLocator Signal directly to the residential network 180. Returning backto FIG. 3, the computer 300 may include a power source 360, such as arechargeable battery to provide power and allow the computer 300 to beportable. In alternate embodiments, the computer 300 could include itsown telephone line (or other communications connection and/orcommunications address) to the communications network 120 (not shown).Another alternative may include the computer 300 incorporated into acomponent of the communications network 120 (such as integratedcomponentry with an Emergency Locator DataServer 418 of FIG. 4) or aspecially designed communications device (not shown).

Those of ordinary skill in the art also understand the central processor320 is typically a microprocessor. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., forexample, manufactures a full line of ATHLON™ microprocessors (ATHLON™ isa trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., One AMD Place, P.O. Box3453, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94088-3453, 408.732.2400, 800.538.8450,www.amd.com). The Intel Corporation also manufactures a family of X86and P86 microprocessors (Intel Corporation, 2200 Mission College Blvd.,Santa Clara, Calif. 95052-8119, 408.765.8080, www.intel.com). Othermanufacturers also offer microprocessors. Such other manufacturersinclude Motorola, Inc. (1303 East Algonquin Road, P.O. Box A3309.Schaumburg, Ill. 60196, www.Motorola.com), International BusinessMachines Corp. (New Orchard Road, Armonk, N.Y. 10504, (914) 499-1900,www.ibm.com), and Transmeta Corp. (3940 Freedom Circle, Santa Clara,Calif. 95054, www.transmeta.com). Those skilled in the art furtherunderstand that the program, processes, methods, and systems describedin this patent are not limited to any particular manufacturer's centralprocessor.

An exemplary operating system is the UNIX® operating system (UNIX® is aregistered trademark of the Open Source Group, www.opensource.org).Other UNIX-based operating systems, however, are also suitable, such asLINUX® or a RED HAT® LINUX-based system (LINUX® is a registeredtrademark of Linus Torvalds, and RED HAT® is a registered trademark ofRed Hat, Inc., Research Triangle Park, N.C., 1-888-733-4281,www.redhat.com). Other operating systems, however, are also suitable.Such other operating systems would include a WINDOWS-based operatingsystem (WINDOWS® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, OneMicrosoft Way, Redmond Wash. 98052-6399, 425.882.8080,www.Microsoft.com). and Mac® OS (Mac® is a registered trademark of AppleComputer, Inc., 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, Calif. 95014, 408.996.1010,www.apple.com). Those of ordinary skill in the art again understand thatthe program, processes, methods, and systems described in this patentare not limited to any particular operating system.

The system memory device (shown as memory subsystem 312 or peripheralstorage device 316) may also contain one or more application programs.For example, an application program may cooperate with the operatingsystem and with a video display unit (via graphics subsystem 330) toprovide a GUI for the Emergency Locator Module 314. The GUI typicallyincludes a combination of signals communicating with the graphicssubsystem 330 and/or the keyboard subsystem 332. The GUI provides aconvenient visual and/or audible interface with the user of the computer300. As is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, the user(e.g., receiving party, calling party, and/or administrator) interactswith the Emergency Locator Module 314 over a variety of mediums, suchas, for example, a stylus, keyboard, and punch buttons of the keyboardsubsystem 332, a display screen of the graphics subsystem 330, and/or avoice-activated menu prompt of the audio subsystem 334.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of a communications system 400 illustratingcommunications connections of different communications networks,different communications devices, and different users that generate,enable, and/or transmit an Emergency Locator Signal via one or morecommunications networks to a communications address of the localcommunications network 180. The communications system includes a home401 having the local communications network 180, at least one electronicdevice 402, an emergency alert 403, a communications device 406, atleast one user 407, 408, a telecommunication network 410 having aService Switching Point (SSP) 412, a Service Control Point (SCP) 414, anIntranet (for the telecommunications provider to administer and programthe telecommunications network 410 components and/or for thesubscriber/user to access, program, and/or otherwise manage a EmergencyLocator Profile), an Emergency Locator DataServer 418, and a database ofEmergency Locator Profiles 419, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 430(e.g., America On-Line), a data network 440 having a communicationsserver 444, an Emergency Locator DataServer 448, and a database ofEmergency Locator Profiles 449, and an emergency response call center.The telecommunications network 410 communicates with a variety ofcommunications devices, such as, a modem 420 coupled with a personalcomputer 422 a having the Emergency Locator Module 314, a POTS phone424, and a cellular phone 426 (via a wireless connection). Similarly,the data network 440 communicates with a variety of communicationsdevices, such as, for example, a personal computer 422 b having theEmergency Locator Module 314 and the personal digital assistant 428.

According to some of the embodiments of this invention, thecommunications network 120 detects and decodes an incoming lineidentification signal (ICLID) of an incoming communications signal (oralternate network identification signal) to the emergency response callcenter 130 and connects the call. The incoming communications signal mayoriginate from any of the communications devices (e.g., referencenumerals 406, 420, 422 a, 422 b, 424, 426, and 428, and othercommunications devices described herein) in any of the communicationsnetworks (e.g., reference numerals 180, 410, 440, and otherscommunications networks described herein). In an embodiment, thetelecommunications network 410 compares the incoming communicationssignal with an Emergency Locator Profile stored in one or more databases419 to determine one or more communications address of the localcommunications network 180, the type of location system, caller controlparameters, notification parameters, and/or other Emergency Locatoractivation, deactivation, and control information. As shown in FIG. 4,the incoming communications signal arrives at SSP 412 that analyzes thesignal(s) and routes the incoming communications signal to the SCP 414.If the SCP 414 detects a communications address of the incomingcommunications signal (e.g., the phone number of the calling party'scommunications device) and a communications address of the emergencyresponse call center 130, then the SCP 414 attempts to match thecommunications address of the incoming communications signal with theEmergency Locator Profile. That is, the SCP 414 communicates with theIntranet 416 and with the Emergency Locator DataServer 418 (oralternatively, directly with the Emergency Locator DataServer 418) toaccesses the database 419 of Emergency Locator Profiles to determineEmergency Locator Services associated with the communications address ofthe incoming communications signal. The matched Emergency LocatorProfile contains parameters that establish the available EmergencyLocator Services for the associated communications address. Thereafter,an Emergency Locator Application uses the Emergency Locator Profile togenerate the Emergency Locator Signal, and the telecommunicationsnetwork 410 transmits the Emergency Locator Signal to the communicationsaddress of the local communications network 180 to access an informationsystem that contains a location of an associated communications deviceor to activate, deactivate, and/or monitor location positioning means ofan associated communications device.

To create, modify, and/or access an Emergency Locator Profile, any ofthe communications devices (e.g., reference numerals 406, 420, 422 a,422 b, 424, 426, and 428, and other communications devices describedherein) accesses a locally stored and/or remotely stored EmergencyLocator Module 314 that interfaces with one or more of thecommunications networks (e.g., reference numerals 404, 410, 440, andothers communications networks described herein). For example, thetelecommunications network 410 may present an interactive interface tothe user of the communications device 406 that may be programmed over avariety of mediums, such as, for example, a voice-activated and/or DualTone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) menu prompt. The user, for example, mightselect to access stored Emergency Locator Profiles by entering a “1” ona touch-tone keypad or by speaking into a receiving audio subsystem andstating the word “one.” After making a selection, the telecommunicationsnetwork 410 retrieves the stored Emergency Locator Signal from adatabase and presents it to the user for additional instructions.Similarly, the user might select “2” to create and/or otherwiseestablish a new Emergency Locator Profile. In addition, the user mightenter a code (e.g., “*99”) in order to automatically block anycommunication of Emergency Locator Signals to a communications address.According to other embodiment, the user may alternatively contact (e.g.,via a voice communication, via a web-based interface, and the like) atelecommunications service provider (or alternate communicationsprovider) to have an administrator, other personnel, and/or componentryof the telecommunications service provider establish the EmergencyLocator Profile. For example, the user may use the computer 422 a andthe Emergency Locator Module 314 to establish an Emergency LocatorProfile that is communicated to telecommunications network 410.Alternatively, the user could use computer 422 b and a web-basedinterface of the Data Network 440 to establish the Emergency LocatorProfile. Regardless of how the Emergency Locator Profile is established,the Emergency Locator Profile is used to generate and/or otherwisemanage the Emergency Locator Signal that is communicated to theemergency alert 140.

According to some of the embodiments of this invention, the database 519of Emergency Locator Profiles and the Emergency Locator DataServer 518control access, creation, notification, routing, security, transactions,troubleshooting, management, sharing, and/or additional processing ofEmergency Locator Signals exchanged to/from the telecommunicationsnetwork 410 with the residential network 180, other communicationsdevices, and other communication networks. More specifically, theEmergency Locator Profile contains files and/or fields that contain: (1)an originating communications address associated with a calling party'scommunications device, (2) the communications address of the localcommunications network, (3) a communications device associated with thecommunications address of the local communications network, (4) anidentifier of a building location of the communications device, (5) aparameter for controlling position locating means of the communicationsdevice, (6) a parameter for monitoring the position locating means, (7)a parameter to enable calling party control of the position locatingmeans, and (8) a notification parameter for notifying a third party ofthe building location and/or of activation of the position locatingmeans. Still further, the Emergency Locator Profile may includeparameters for (1) archiving the Emergency Locator Profile to a storagedevice associated with the telecommunications service provider and/orarchiving to alternate storage devices, (2) encrypting the EmergencyLocator Signal (or a portion of the Emergency Locator Signal) so thatonly the communications address of the local communications networkand/or emergency alert 140 can decipher the Emergency Locator Signal,(3) copying the Emergency Locator Profile, and (4) associating theEmergency Locator Profile with a variety of fields, files, and/or otherdata for Emergency Locator Services, such as, for example logininformation associated with the customer, user, and/or administrator,password, telephone number(s) or Service Node(s) of the customer (thismay include a plurality of addresses that are associated with a ServiceNode or other communications switch serving the calling party'scommunications device), TCP/IP address of the customer, email address ofthe customer, a time or date identifier (e.g., day of week or calendardate), other information associated with the incoming lineidentification (ICLID) communications signal, size and content ofEmergency Locator Signal, reply(s), delivery failure notification(s),display and/or presentation data associated with a GUI (e.g., color,font, placement of the Emergency Locator Module), and/ortelecommunications network 410 defaults. Accordingly, the EmergencyLocator DataServer 418 operating with the database 419 of profiles andwith the Emergency Locator Application functions as a computer server,database, and/or processor that is dedicated to managing EmergencyLocator Services including communications of Emergency Locator Signalsover the telecommunications network 410 to other connected networks,communications devices, and/or the emergency alert 140. Communications(“Comm”) Server 444 of data network 440 operates similar to SCP 414 oftelecommunications network; Emergency Locator DataServer 448 anddatabase 449 of data network 440 operate similar to Emergency LocatorDataServer 418 and database 419 of telecommunications network 410.

FIG. 5 is a schematic of a communications system 500 similar to thecommunications system 400 disclosed in FIG. 4. However, thecommunications system 500 illustrates alternate communications links anda variety of communications devices that may be used by the callingparty (i.e., calling party's communications device 110 of FIG. 1)including a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) 511, an IP phone 512, amodem 513, an interactive pager 514, a global positioning system (GPS)515, an MP3 player 516, a digital signal processor (DSP) 517, and aninteractive television 518, a POTS phone 519, and a personal computer520. Communications system 500 also illustrates a communicationsconnection of the calling party's communications device 110 via switch510 to the telecommunications network and to a gateway 560 communicatingwith data network 440 and with a switch 580 coupled and/or otherwisecommunicating with the residential network 180 having a first connection585 to a communications device associated with a basement location 582and having a second connection 587 to a communications device associatedwith a kitchen location 584. Still further, communications system 500includes a switch 530 coupling the telecommunications network 410 withthe emergency response call center 130. Regardless of the callingparty's communications device (reference numerals 511-520) that placesthe call to the emergency response call center 130, the data network 440and/or the telecommunications network 410 is able to communicate(including audio, text (e.g., ASCII), video, other digital formats, andcombination thereof) with the calling party's communications device 110to receive the incoming communications signal and to transmit response,notification, and/or alternate communications signals. Accordingly, theEmergency Locator DataServers 418, 448 and/or the gateway 560 of thedata network 440 has the intelligence for appropriate formatting ofcommunication signals to/from the calling party's communications device110 and the associated communications device (shown as reference 406 inFIG. 4) of the residential network 180. For example, if the callingparty's communications device uses the Wireless Application Protocol(WAP) technique, then a notification message (e.g., a communicationssignal that includes a message that the emergency alert has beenactivated, what type of alert it is, and so on) is formatted using theWireless Mark-up Language (WML) and configured according to standardsknown in the art. The Wireless Mark-up Language (WML) and the WAPtechnique are known and will not be further described. This is adescription of a solution for a specific wireless protocol, such as WAP.This solution may be clearly extended to other wireless protocol, suchas i-mode, VoiceXML (Voice eXtensible Markup Language), Dual ToneMulti-Frequency (DTMF), and other signaling means. Alternatively, thecommunications signals (incoming communications signals, notificationcommunications signals, response communications signals, controlcommunications signals, and so on) may be formatted and/or otherwiseconfigured for presentation by an application and/or componentry of thecalling party's communications device 110.

As shown in FIG. 5, the telecommunications network 410 may alternativelytransmit the Emergency Locator Signal via ISP 430 (or other connection)of the data network 440. The data network 440 communicates the EmergencyLocator Signal via the gateway 560 to the calling party's communicationsdevice 560 via switch 510 and/or to an associated communications device,such as a first floor communications device 581 or second floorcommunications device 583. Similarly, the calling party's communicationsdevice 110 may generate and/or otherwise establish the Emergency LocatorSignal and communicate the Emergency Locator Signal via the gateway 560to data network 440 and/or to telecommunications network 410. Anotherembodiment discloses the telecommunications network 410 communicatingthe Emergency Locator Signal directly to the gateway 560 (such as when aEmergency Locator Profile associates a static IP address of theemergency alert) to communicate with the switch 580 coupled with theresidential network 180. In addition to transmitting the EmergencyLocator Signal, the telecommunications network 410 may also connect thecalling party's communications device 110 with a third party'scommunications device (not shown) to establish an immediate voiceconnection (e.g., establish a telephone call) with both the emergencyresponse call center 130 and with the third party. That is, for example,the Emergency Locator Profile may provide that Emergency Locator Signalinclude both a data burst to the communications address of the localcommunications network as well as a voice signal (that allows for avoice conversation) to communications address of a third party'scommunications device.

The communications switches (e.g., 510, 530, and 580) allows theconnected communications devices to transceive electronic communicationsignals via the telecommunications network 410 (e.g., a central office(CO), a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO), and/or a combinationCO/MTSO). The telecommunications network 410 may use any means ofcoupling the switches to the telecommunications network 410, but thecoupling means is preferably high-capacity, high-bandwidth opticaltransport services, Gigabit Ethernet services, and/or the like. As thoseof ordinary skill in the art of telecommunications understand, thetelecommunications network 410 could also link the switches via otherappropriate means, such as, for example a Synchronous Optical Network(SONET) structure with redundant, multiple rings.

The telecommunications network 410 may include wired, optical, and/orwireless elements and may further include private network elements, suchas private branch exchanges (PBXs), and/or other elements (not shown).The telecommunications network 410 includes Advanced Intelligent Network(AIN) componentry controlling many features of the network. Thetelecommunications network 410 and/or each of the switches could alsoinclude a packet-based “soft switch” that uses software control toprovide voice, video, and/or data services by dynamically changing itsconnection data rates and protocols types. If the telecommunicationsnetwork 410 and/or one of the switches should include a softswitch, theAIN componentry is replaced by an application server that interfaceswith the softswitch via a packet protocol, such as Session InitiationProtocol (SIP). The means of communicating between or among the callingparty's communications device 110, the emergency response call center130, the communications address of the local communications network 180,the switches 510, 530, 580, the telecommunications network 410 includingAIN componentry, and/or the data network 440 including the gateway 560include a variety of means, including optical transmission of data(e.g., any medium capable of optically transmitting the data), wirelesstransmission of data (e.g., wireless communications of the data usingany portion of the electromagnetic spectrum), and/or fixed-wiretransmission of data (e.g., any medium capable of transmitting electronsalong a conductor). Fiber optic technologies, spectrum multiplexing(such as Dense Wave Division Multiplexing), Ethernet and GigabitEthernet services, Infrared, the family of IEEE 602 standards, andDigital Subscriber Lines (DSL) are just some examples of thetransmission means. The signaling between these devices and/or networks,however, is well understood in by those of ordinary skill the art andwill not be further described. Further, those of ordinary skill in theart will be able to apply the principles of this invention to their ownnetwork configurations which may differ substantially from thecommunications system(s) shown in the figures.

FIGS. 6-8 are flowcharts showing processes of providing the EmergencyLocator Services according to some of the embodiments of this invention.While the processes in FIGS. 6-8 are shown in series, these processesmay occur in different orders and/or at simultaneous times as one ofordinary skill in the art will understand.

A user uses a calling party's communications device to place an incomingcommunication to an emergency response call center and a communications(“Comm”) network detects [block 610] and decodes the incomingcommunications signal and associated incoming line identificationinformation and/or other network-based identification information [block620]. Thereafter, the communications network connects the incomingcommunications signal to the emergency response call center and a voiceconnection or alternate communications link is established with the callcenter along with the incoming communications signal and associatedincoming line identification information [block 630]. At the same time,or near the same time, the communications network matches an EmergencyLocator Profile as described in the above embodiments [block 640] anddetermines if the profile enables a communication link with aresidential network to locate an associated communications device [block650]. If no, then the communications network determines if the callingparty provides an instruction to enable the communications link with theresidential network to locate an associated communications device [block710]. If yes, then the communications network establishes thecommunications link according to the calling party's instructions [720].Thereafter, the communications network determines if the profile enablesother call handling options, such as, for example, sending anotification of a location of the associated communications device to athird party [block 730]. If yes, then the communications networkprocesses the incoming communications signal according and/or thealternate communications signal associated with Emergency LocatorProfile according to parameters set forth in the profile [block 740]. Ifthe profile does not enable other call handling options, then thecommunications method ends. Referring back to “Block 710,” if thecalling party is not authorized to enable the communications link withthe residential network, then the communications network determines ifthe profile enables other call handling options [block 730]. If yes,then the communications network processes the incoming communicationssignal according and/or the alternate communications signal associatedwith Emergency Locator Profile according to parameters set forth in theprofile [block 740]. If the profile does not enable other call handlingoptions, then the communications method ends.

Referring back to “Block 650”, if the Emergency Locator Profile doesautomatically enable a communication link with the residential network,then the Emergency Locator Application generates the Emergency LocatorSignal [block 810], and the communications network transmits theEmergency Locator Signal to a communications address of the localcommunications network [block 820]. Thereafter, the transmittedEmergency Locator Signal communicates with the residential network toidentify a location of a selected communications device at an emergencycommunications address and communicates the location to the emergencyresponse call center [block 830]. Next, the communications networkdetermines if the profile enables other call handling options [block840]. If yes, then the communications network processes the incomingcommunications signal according and/or the alternate communicationssignal associated with Emergency Locator Profile according to parametersset forth in the profile [block 850]. If the profile does not enableother call handling options, then the communications method ends.

As is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, the EmergencyLocator Module 314 may be physically embodied on or in acomputer-readable medium. This computer-readable medium may includeCD-ROM, DVD, tape, cassette, floppy disk, memory card, andlarge-capacity disk (such as IOMEGA®, ZIP®, JAZZ®, and otherlarge-capacity memory products (IOMEGA®, ZIP®, and JAZZ® are registeredtrademarks of Iomega Corporation, 1821 W. Iomega Way, Roy, Utah 84067,801.332.1000, www.iomega.com). This computer-readable medium, or media,could be distributed to end-users, licensees, and assignees. A computerprogram product for expanding bandwidth includes the Emergency LocatorModule 314 stored on the computer-readable medium. The Emergency LocatorModule 314 may also be physically embodied on or in any addressable(e.g., HTTP, I.E.E.E. 802.11, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP))wireless device capable of presenting an IP address. Examples couldinclude a computer, a wireless personal digital assistant (PDA), anInternet Protocol mobile phone, or a wireless pager.

While several exemplary implementations of embodiments of this inventionare described herein, various modifications and alternate embodimentswill occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, the nextgeneration “softswitch” simply replaces the SCP with an “applicationserver.” This application server is a conventional computer server thatalso includes triggers for telecommunications services so that “newentrants” into telecommunications services (e.g., new telecommunicationsservice providers) don't have to purchase an expensive SSP and/or SCP toprocess telephone calls. This next-generation packet network representsan alternative operating environment for the systems, methods, programs,and apparatuses of this invention. Here the telecommunications switchincludes a packet-based “softswitch.” This “softswitch” uses softwarecontrol to provide voice, data, and video services by dynamicallychanging its connection data rates and protocols types. An applicationserver interfaces with the “softswitch” via a packet protocol, such asSession Initiation Protocol (SIP). This application server includesvoice service protocols, triggers, and operations that allow the PSTNand the data network (e.g., the world wide electronic communicationsnetwork) to interoperate. Accordingly, this invention is intended toinclude those other variations, modifications, and alternate embodimentsthat adhere to the spirit and scope of this invention.

1. A computer readable medium storing encoded instructions forperforming a method, the method comprising: receiving a communicationfrom a sender's communications address to an emergency responsecommunications address; associating an incoming line identification(ICLID) signal and the emergency response communications address to aprofile; retrieving an emergency address from the profile; prompting thesender during the communication to enter a code that blocks generationof an emergency locator signal; automatically blocking generation of theemergency locator signal when the code is entered; and generating theemergency locator signal when the code is not entered to activate ameans for locating a geographic location of the emergency address. 2.The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructionsfor sending an originating communications address to the emergencyresponse communications address.
 3. The computer readable medium ofclaim 2, further comprising instructions for routing the communicationto the emergency response communications address.
 4. The computerreadable medium of claim 2, further comprising instructions forpresenting a notification of an incoming emergency conferencecommunication to a third party's communications device.
 5. The computerreadable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions foractivating global positioning system at the sender's communicationsaddress.
 6. The computer readable medium of claim 5, farther comprisinginstructions for communicating the emergency locator signal to thesender's communications address.
 7. The computer readable medium ofclaim 1, farther comprising instructions for retrieving from the profilean identifier of a room within a building associated with the sender'scommunications address.
 8. The computer readable medium of claim 7,farther comprising instructions for communicating the identifier to theemergency response communications address.
 9. The computer readablemedium of claim 1, farther comprising instructions for retrieving athird party communications address from the profile and forcommunicating the emergency locator signal to the third partycommunications address.
 10. The computer readable medium of claim 1,further comprising instructions for: retrieving from the profile anidentifier of a room within a building associated with the sender'scommunications address; and sending the identifier of the room to thethird party communications address.
 11. A communications method,comprising: receiving a communication from a sender's communicationsaddress to an emergency response communications address; associating anincoming line identification (ICLID) signal and the emergency responsecommunications address to a profile; retrieving an emergency addressfrom the profile; prompting the sender during the communication to entera code that blocks generation of an emergency locator signal;automatically blocking generation of the emergency locator signal whenthe code is entered; generating the emergency locator signal when thecode is not entered to activate a means for locating a geographiclocation of the emergency address; retrieving a third partycommunications address from the profile; and establishing a three-wayvoice communication between the sender's communications address, theemergency response communications address, and the third partycommunications address.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprisingsending an originating communications address to the emergency responsecommunications address.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprisingrouting the communication to the emergency response communicationsaddress.
 14. The method of claim 12, further comprising presenting anotification during the three-way voice communication of an emergencyconference.
 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising activating aglobal positioning system at the sender's communications address. 16.The method of claim 11, further comprising retrieving from the profilean identifier of a room within a building associated with the sender'scommunications address.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprisingcommunicating the identifier during the three-way voice communication.18. The method of claim 11, further comprising activating a continuousringer at the sender's communications address to identify a location ofthe sender's communications device.
 19. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising activating a continuous ringer at the sender's communicationsaddress during the three-way voice communication to identify a locationof the sender's communications device.
 20. The method of claim 11,further comprising communicating the sender's communication address tothe third party communication address during the three- way voicecommunication.